Contact:

A Path Toward Teacher Certification

CERTIFICATION ASSISTANCE

The New York State Education Department's Office of Teaching Initiatives provides comprehensive information regarding the teacher certification process in New York State, including a FAQ page that will answer most of your questions.

TEACHER CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: HOW AND WHEN

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires teachers to obtain certification before they can teach. Remember, it is your responsibility to stay current on deadlines for graduation, New York State Teacher’s Certification Examinations (NYSTCE), certification applications, and requirements.

The STEPS to become recommended for certification by Marist College involve the following:

1. ACADEMIC PREPARATION:You must complete one of our NCATE approved programs of study in education, including an acceptable academic major, the required pedagogical coursework, student teaching placements, and a conferred degree upon graduation.

2. FINGERPRINTING:

OVERVIEW

New York State Education Department requires that the Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA) conduct fingerprint supported criminal history background checks for applicants for teacher certification and all prospective employees of school districts, charter schools and BOCES.

It is the experience of Marist faculty that most school districts do expect the candidate to provide verification that they have been fingerprinted and have passed a criminal history background check prior to beginning a sustained field experience and/or student teaching placement.

If you are considering becoming a certificated teacher in another state, you are advised to consult their fingerprinting regulations since New York’s fingerprinting clearance is not transferrable to other states, nor is another state’s fingerprint clearance accepted in New York. If you do not choose to apply for fingerprint clearance in New York, please know that your placement for field experiences or student teaching may not be in a school/district in proximity to campus since most local school districts do require student teachers to be fingerprinted. The Education Department will attempt to provide a local placement, but may have to resort to one more remote from campus.

The education department strongly recommends that candidates, including incoming transfer students, who will be required to participate in field experiences or student teaching be fingerprinted the semester prior to beginning that field experience or student teaching.

THIS MESSAGE IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE NOT YET BEEN FINGERPRINTED FOR YOUR TEACH ACCOUNT.

MorphoTrust is a private vendor contracted by New York State to handle the fingerprinting requirements for educators, governmental offices, and other services that require fingerprint clearance.

MorphoTrust maintains service centers throughout New York and other states. The candidate makes an appointment at one of the centers through a web-based online system. Location of the centers may be found at www.IdentoGo.com. (Select NY and then click on Locations.)

Details are:

On the MorphoTrust system, you will be asked for an ORI number. Use TEACH as this code.

The candidate is responsible for making an appointment for one of the MorphoTrust centers. The entire fingerprinting application and fee will be managed by MorphoTrust. Access the online application using the link above. When completing the online application, you may pay by credit card. As an alternative, you could complete the application at your appointment site. If you choose to complete the application on-site, you must pay by either check or cash.

There is a fee of slightly more than $100. This amount is for the New York Department of Criminal Justice, FBI, and MorphoTrust fees.

Bring two forms of identification to your fingerprinting appointment. One form must be an identification photo (e.g. driver's license).

For those who do not reside in New York, but will need to be fingerprinted for student teaching in any state, you may make an appointment at a MorphoTrust location in New York ORcontact NYSED at ospra@nysed.gov for instructions on how you may satisfy the fingerprinting requirement for purpose of certification only.

If fingerprints are rejected due to poor quality prints and a reprint appointment is necessary, there will be no additional charge.

If you choose to be fingerprinted, then please know that the candidate is fully responsible for getting fingerprinted in a timely manner so that clearance is received PRIOR to student teaching.

WHAT IF I HAVE BEEN FINGERPRINTED FOR EMPLOYMENT BEFORE?

“It depends on why you were fingerprinted. If you were fingerprinted after July 1, 2001 and you submitted your fingerprints to the New York StateEducation Department (NYSED) pursuant to the SAVE Legislation, then you do not need to be fingerprinted again for subsequent employment in a covered school, irrespective of whether you ever worked there, or for subsequent applications for certification. If you were fingerprinted for another type of employment, such as a daycare worker, a security guard, a police officer, etc., you need to be fingerprinted again.”

If you are unsure if your fingerprints have been processed through the New York State Education Department (NYSED), you can call their Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA) at: (518) 473-2998.

FINGERPRINTING AND STUDENT TEACHING

The New York State Education Department’s website contains a chart showing who is exempt from fingerprinting. That chart includes the statement:

“unpaid student teachers are treated like volunteers and, therefore, are not subject to fingerprinting”

With the idea of providing a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, etc., most area school districts require a candidate to be fingerprinted in order to student teach in one of their schools. Dr. Powers and Dr. Morrison may be consulted as to the names of those districts. If you request a student teaching placement in one of those districts and have yet to be fingerprinted under NYSED’s SAVE legislation requirements (see above) then it will be expected that you will be fingerprinted in the semester prior to the start of student teaching. If you choose not to be fingerprinted at this time then please understand that your student teaching placements may not occur in a school/district in proximity to campus since most local school districts do require student teachers to be fingerprinted.

3. WORKSHOPS:

Child Abuse Identification Workshop and SAVE/School Violence Prevention:These trainings need to be completed prior to student teaching. An on-campus workshop for SAVE/School Violence Prevention is offered each semester. Proof of completion will be documented on your transcripts once the workshop is completed.

Take the Child Abuse Seminar (if interested in taking online, see www.nysmandatedreporter.org, or www.childabuseworkshop.com). A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION must be brought to the Education Department Office in Dyson 388 so that your transcript can be processed to indicate you have completed this certification requirement.. Remember to save a copy for yourself.

Take the SAVE Seminar (if interested in taking online, see www.violenceworkshop.com). There is a fee. If taken anywhere other than Marist College, A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION must be brought to the Education Department Office in Dyson 388 to be entered on your transcript. Remember to save a copy for yourself.

DASA (Dignity for All Students Act training):Starting in 2014, the Dignity for All Students Act training must be documented on your transcripts for recommendation. On-campus workshops will be offered each semester. Proof of completion for the on-campus version will be documented on your transcript once the workshop is completed, and once the CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION is received by the Education Department. Please watch for announcements for this workshop. Otherwise, take the DASA training at Ulster BOCES Center for School Safety. (The address is 175 Rte 32 North, New Paltz, NY 12561. 845-255-1400.) A fee will be charged. If you complete the training off-campus, you need to have your Dignity for All Students Act workshop documented on your transcript for recommendation by SENDING A COPY OF YOUR WORKSHOP CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION to Marist’s Education Department in Dyson 388.

4. TEACHING CERTIFICATE APPLICATION:In order to become certified, candidates MUST fill out an application on their TEACH Account at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/. There will be a fee. This process should be started during student teaching.

NOTE: Psychology/Special Education candidates first apply for their New York initial teaching certificate in the area where their edTPA submission was successful. This is either Elementary Education (grades 1-6) or Students with Disabilities (grades 1-6). After that initial certification is issued on your TEACH account, go ahead and apply for the other certificate.

TEACH Account Password Reset:There’s a self-service feature for students to retrieve their TEACH Account User IDs and Passwords with no waiting time for email responses. Simply click on “USERNAME go to” or “PASSWORD go to” on this link: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/report.html.

5. CERTIFICATION EXAMINATIONS:

Candidates for certification must achieve qualifying scores on the appropriate tests in the New York State Teacher Certification Examination (NYSTCE) program. Register for the tests at http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/ as you prepare to take them.

At its May 2015 meeting the New York State Board of Regents approved an emergency regulation extending the edTPA Safety Net and created safety nets for the Educating All Students test (EAS) and certain Content Specialty Tests (CSTs). For the safety net to be used, a candidate must first submit the edTPA or take one of the designated tests. Upon not achieving a passing score, the candidate may re-take the assessment or use the safety net option. The following link provides the details of the safety net plan as it is currently known: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/memos/certexamsafetynets.html

Student/Faculty Resources for EAS

Faculty at Brooklyn College have developed Educating All Students (EAS) practice materials for candidates which are posted on their website at:

CUNY Brooklyn College webinar for EAS:

Source: Board of Regents Meeting February 2015

Additional Certifications:Marist College can recommend you for certification after your degree has been conferred (usually 2-3 weeks after grades are submitted), and then NYSED requires approximately 60 days to evaluate your application. Check your TEACH account “Evaluation History” for details on the processing of your application, as you may be missing a requirement, such as a workshop or a test. If all the requirements are met, you will be given a Control Number on your TEACH account, which you can use as verification for job applications. Log in to your account to check your status: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/.

Interstate Reciprocity: Those wishing to teach in states other than New York should check the Certification Map for information on each state's reciprocity agreement with New York. This map may not be up-to-date due to each state's changing regulations for certification. Check directly with the state of interest for more specific information.

Last revised: 4/24/17

TEACHER CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS BY STATE (PLUS D.C. AND PUERTO RICO)